1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in display rack shelving and particularly to an extendable wire shelf which may be extended from one depth to another to permit restocking and to provide different depths for the shelf.
2. Prior Art
Display racks are commonly used in supermarkets and the like to display various items including dated snack products such as potato chips, corn chips and the like which must be constantly restocked for freshness. A typical display rack of the prior art is shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,002 wherein wire shelves are connected to sheet metal side brackets which in turn are hooked to vertical upright members to provide support for the wire shelving.
The restocking of perishable snack products is important to the display and merchandising of such goods. Not only must the snack products be restocked for freshness, but snack availability and visibility stimulates usage as most snacks are purchased on impulse. The restocking of snack shelves on display racks is therefore quite important, but is also labor intensive and time consuming as the oldest snack items should be positioned in the front and the freshest snack packages in the rear for product rotation. At present this is done manually by a restocking salesman pulling the snack packages on the shelf forward by hand and restocking the new packages behind them. This is time consuming, especially for wide shelves with a large number of snack packages.
There is a need in the display rack shelf art for shelving of different depth for several purposes. For example, in some seasons snack products might sell or move from the shelves faster than in other seasons, e.g., in resort areas where most business is seasonal. Additionally, it is desirable to have different depth shelves for different space requirements of permanent displays, but this creates a problem of carrying a large inventory of different depth shelves.
Telescopic wire shelving as a general concept is known e.g., in the refrigerator art, see U.S. Pat. No. 2,103,885. Extendable depth or adjustable store display shelves are also broadly known, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,685,372 and 2,769,551. Telescoping trays for retractable display racks are broadly known, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,403,789. However, there is a need in the art for a simple, inexpensive, adjustable depth wire shelf for display rack which can be adjusted to different depths of use and can be readily adapted to permit quick and efficient restocking and product rotation.